Type-writing machine



' (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

G1 0. TOWLE. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 496,496. Patented-May 2, 1893.

Mei/M mi nomus PETER} m. mmu'ma, wnsumu'rou. n. c.

NITE STATES PATENT QFFICEG GEORGE'C. TOVVLE, OF HYDE PARK, MASSACHUSETTS.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,496, dated May 2, 1893. Application filed December 20, 1889. Serial No. 334,413. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. TowLE, of Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writing Machines, of which the following is a specifi? cation.

My present improvements relate more particularly to that variety of typewriting ma-- machines, and

chines known as type bar especially to an improved type bar, an improved type bar hanger, and ating devices between the key stems and the type bars, and to certain constructions and combinations which will be more fully understood by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings,in which latter Figure 1 represents in vertical section from front to rear, parts of a typewriting machine containing my improvements in one form, and Fig. 2 shows the same in top plan. and 5 show enlarged in detail my improved type bar and hangerdevices, which are of the same form as those shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the drawings and in the description many parts of the typewriting machine are omitted, and only those parts shown which are necessary to the understanding of my present improvements; becausethese improvements may be embodied in any of the type bar machines.

now known to the art, in which the usual or any appropriate platen and .paper carriage mechanisms, with devices for actuating them, bell and scale mechanisms, &c., maybe used.

It is the object of my improvements to construct in combination with an inking pad a type-bar that shall offer the type face or faces which it carries to the inking pad when it is not printing and shall offer its face or faces to the paper when printing just as directly, quickly, and correctly, as to alignment, as it would if a ribbon were used instead of the pad; to hinge these type bars in hangers that may be readily made of sheet metal and still be efficient and exact and readily adjustable both for alignment and for tightness of the type bar bearing; to construct the connections of the key stems with the type bars so that the leverage shall be exactly alike for allthe keys and bars, and so that the long and slender parts necessarily used for communicating improved actuare carried, and A A are other standards or uprights for the support of the inking mech- Figs. 3, 4 1

In carrying out my improvements, I take the ordinary frame of a typewriting machine, as before suggested, having a base, as A, and uprights,-A' A, and a circular hanger plate, as A and uprights, as A A bearing transverse horizontal key stem holders, A A.

A A are small standards attached to the frame for supporting the rods on which the bell crank levers hereinafter to be described anism, to be described.

B is acylindrical platen which may be constructed and actuated in any suitable manner, and upon which the paper is carried, the

printing point of this machine here illustrated being beneath the platen, B, at the point indicated by 9 in Fig. 1.

O is a finger key, and C a key stem.

0 is a bell crank lever with which the lower end of the key stem, 0, is hinged at the end 'of one arm, and which is pivoted at C to an upright, as A or a rod held thereby; to the other arm of the lever, 0 is hinged a pull or connecting rod, 0 which in turn is freely connected at its other end with one arm of another bell crank lever, 0 fulcruined at O to the other arm of the lever, 0 is freely connected a vertical pull, 0", which is freely connected at its upper end with the shorter arm, G, of the type bar, G; these parts are so constructed that pressure on the key, 0, through a short distance actuates by means of the connections described and shown the type bar through a sufficient distance to cause an improssion of the type. In like manner D is a key, D a key stem; D and D are bell crank levers fulcrumed at D and I) respectively, and connected by the horizontal pull, D and further connected by the perpendicular pull, D with the shorter end, G of the type bar, G the only difference between these two systerns of keys and their connections being that the first system is connectedwith the type bars on the front side of the nest, and the second with the type bars on the rear side of the nest, and it will be obvious to anyone skilled in the art that all the keys and corre-- sponding type bars of the machine may be connected in a similar manner, and that they will all have the same leverage, and that the keys will all have the same extent of vertical action, and that consequently the machine will accept an equal touch for all the keys, and that the connections are made by pulls instead of by long levers, so as to operate more steadily and with less liability to destruction. It is obvious that the vertical pulls, as G D may have turn-buckles interposed, or any other suitable device for adjusting them inlength though I have not shown them in the drawings.

I mount my improved type bar in an improved hanger, E, which I prefer to strike up from sheet metal, but which may be made in any suitable manner, and which has a bracket portion, E, which is secured to the hanger plate or beam, The slot in the bracket or seat, E, may be elongated if desired to allow more play for adjustment; the hanger, E, has side portions or holders, E E affording one on each side bearings for the type bar trunnions, G and these side pieces or holders extend backward along the scat piece, E, to secure rigidity of the hanger, and extend forward above the type bar, and have a curve with allowance for sufficient play of the type bar, and are connected by a screw, E whereby the grip may be tightened or loosened, so as to adjust the bearings of the type bar.

I construct my primary type bar, G, preferably of a tube, hearing at its lower end, as at g, a letter or character, and instead of constructing this in one piece with the shorter arm and connecting it directly with the pull, C and hinging it directly in the hanger, I mount it in a secondary type bar or barrel portion, G in which it is swiveled and free to revolve, and I form on it, or connect rigidly with it a head portion or shorter end, G, having a shoulder, and also a tang, G bent out of line with the axis of the type bar, G, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The type bar barrel, G has trunnions, G G, and is mounted in bearings in the hanger before described.

F is a cam plate having a curved cam slot, f, and which may be madein separate part and secured to the hanger, or the hanger plate of the machine, or may be made, as I prefer to make it, struck up of sheet steel from the same piece with the hanger; the cam plate, F, is suitably curved, as shown in Figs. 3, 4., and 5, and is placed so that the end of the tang, G plays in the cam slot, f, when the type bar is operated. WVhen the type bar, G, is at rest, these parts will appear as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, and 5, with the face of the type g, against the pad, H, and the tang, G at or near the upper end of the cam slot, f,but the construction and operation of these parts are such that when a key is depressed, as for instance the the key, D, and the short arm, G (Fig. 1,) of the type bar is pulled downward from the position indicated by a dotted line, the barrel, G is moved pivotally on its trunnions, G,

A by means of a screw,

until it reaches the position shown at the right hand of Fig. 1, and is of course carried, along with the long arm of the primary type bar, G, to the same relative longitudinal position; but while this has been going on the motion of the eccentric tang, G (which is exactly like G on the left hand side,) in the cam plate, F, has caused a half revolution of the bar, G about its axis, changing the relative position of the type, g from the lower to the upper side of the type bar and bringing it in proper manner for printing to the printing point. It is obvious that when the pressure is removed from the key, and the type bar and connections fall to their first described position at rest, the type bar, G, will be restored by a reverse semirevolution to the position indicated by the dotted line on the right of Fig. l, or that of G g on the left.

I place a pad, H, of felt or similar material, in a circular position within the nest of the machine, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that when the type bars are in their downward inactive position the type faces may rest against it. I prefer to make this in segments, and to inclose it in segmental circular ink pan, K, having the ink reservoir, K, and dust cover, K and within which the pad, H, may beheld upon the wick, J, extending downward into the bottom of the ink reservoir; and these parts may be constructed of one circular ink reservoir and pad, or as I have before said in segments, as shown, for more ready removal and adjustment. It will be seen that by this construction of ink pad it is placed entirely out of the Way. It is protected except a narrow strip. It is nearly covered with the type bars and type, both above and below, from the dust, that it may be constantly and evenly supplied with ink and that for a long time without change, and that these results are obtained without any moving mechanism liable to disarrangement and without being in the way of the operation of other parts of the machine, so that the full advantage of direct impression from ink faced type upon the paper may be obtained without sacrifice of any advantages saved in the ink ribbon machines.

I claim as new and of my invention- 1. The combination with the ink pad and platen, of a hanger, a cam plate in the rear of the hanger, a barrel mounted in bearings in the hanger, an arm G upon the barrel for connection to a key lever, a type bar swiveled in and projecting from both ends of the barrel, and having its fulcrum in the bearings of the hanger, said type bar being provided with a type at one end, and devices upon the other end of the type bar arranged to co-operate with the cam plate to rotate the type bar while it is moving between the ink pad and the platen, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a type bar hanger and a curved cam plate concentric with the bearings of thehanger, withabarrel mounted in the bearings and a type bar swiveled in the barrel, and provided at one end with a type and at the other end with a curved tang engaging the cam of the cam plate, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a hanger and a plate with a cam slot, of a primary type bar, as G, having a type character at one end, and a tang at the opposite end bent out of line with the axis of the type bar, and a barrel having an arm for connection with the actuating mechanism, and fulcrum trunnions mounted in the hanger, substantially as described.

4. The hereindescribed type bar hanger constructed with a horizontal seat portion, twoparallel perpendicular portions having opposite bearings for a type bar, and a cam plate concentric with the bearings and provided with a cam slot to receiveatang of the i GEORGE C. TOWLE.

Witnesses:

J. A.,ENRIGHT, J r., 0. S. SUMNER. 

